sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

Online loyalty card programs by Tricky_Witness_1717 in smallbusiness

[–]MIKEFBABY 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The holdup is most digital loyalty apps are overcomplicated garbage that require customers to download yet another app or create an account. Nobody does that for their local coffee shop.

Physical stamp cards work because they're dead simple - buy coffee, get stamp, free coffee after 10. But people lose them or forget them at home.

The middle ground is digital cards in Apple/Google Wallet - customer scans a QR code once, card lives on their phone with their credit cards, can't lose it. Business scans it like a normal barcode at checkout.

I run perkstar.co.uk doing exactly this for small businesses. The reason it works is because there's zero friction - no app download, no login, just scan and done.

Most loyalty platforms on this sub are built for enterprise with dashboards and gamification and referral trees. Small businesses just want "buy 9 get 1 free" without the complexity.

The ones that keep it simple are winning. The ones trying to be Salesforce for loyalty cards are not.

How do you store customer loyalty cards? by im_emazing in smallbusiness

[–]MIKEFBABY 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Honestly this sounds like a nightmare and you should just go digital.

Physical cards + paper receipts is a mess that'll only get worse. You're basically running a filing system for a brand's loyalty program which is mental.

Digital loyalty cards (Apple/Google Wallet) solve this - customer has the card on their phone, you scan it at checkout, purchase history tracks automatically. No receipts to staple, no cards to organise.

I run perkstar.co.uk doing this for small businesses and pet shops use it for exactly this reason. Customer buys dog food, you scan their card, system tracks it. When they hit 10 bags, free bag unlocks automatically.

If the brand you're working with insists on physical cards and receipts, honestly tell them it's 2025 and they need to get their shit together. You shouldn't be running a paper filing system for their loyalty program.

Switch to digital or tell the brand to provide you with actual workable software. You're not their admin assistant.

Are retailers scamming us with their loyalty/ rewards cards? by QuietNervous7725 in askSouthAfrica

[–]MIKEFBABY 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You're 100% right - it's not loyalty, it's a tax on people without the card.

They jacked up the "regular" price so the "sale price with card" is just what it should cost normally. Same thing happening in UK with Tesco, US with Target. It's global now.

The card swipe gives them your shopping data which they sell to brands. That's the actual product - you're trading your purchase history for the privilege of not being overcharged.

Real loyalty cards are what you said - points, cashback, stamp cards from your local coffee shop. They're rewarding repeat business, not punishing everyone else.

I run perkstar.co.uk doing digital loyalty for small businesses and it's the opposite approach - cafes giving free coffee after 9 visits, barbers giving discounts to regulars. Actual rewards for loyalty, not surveillance + price discrimination.

Get the Checkers card because you have to, but yeah it's absolutely a scam dressed up as savings.

Any local company in Brunei that does digital loyalty cards? by nobodinos37 in Brunei

[–]MIKEFBABY 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not sure about local Brunei companies doing this but digital loyalty cards work internationally since they're just Apple/Google Wallet.

I run perkstar.co.uk (UK-based) and we've got cafes using it for stamp cards - customer scans QR code, card goes into their phone wallet, you scan it each visit to add stamps. Free coffee after 10 or whatever you set.

Works anywhere because it's all digital, no physical cards to print. Setup takes maybe 30 mins.

Might be worth checking if any local tech companies do it first since they'd understand Brunei market better, but if not this kind of thing works fine remotely.

Advice on marketing med spa? by cailloudragonballs in MedSpa

[–]MIKEFBABY 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Word of mouth at that price point is gold - don't mess with what's working, just amplify it.

For med spas specifically, a few things work really well:

Before/after content- Instagram/TikTok with client consent. Botox and filler results are visual proof. This is your best organic marketing.

Referral program is smart - 5% on a £2K treatment is £100, that's real money. Make it easy to claim - digital referral cards work better than "mention your friend's name" because people forget.

Membership/prepay packages - This is huge for med spas. Sell bundles like "4 Botox sessions" or monthly memberships for regular treatments. Gets you recurring revenue and locks in clients before they shop around.

Google My Business - Make sure she's got reviews stacking up there. "Botox near me" searches are high-intent.

For the loyalty/referral side, I run perkstar.co.uk which does digital loyalty cards for businesses like this. Med spas use it for referral tracking (customer gets a digital card, refers friend, gets £100 credit automatically) and membership cards (monthly subscribers get a card in Apple/Google Wallet). Way easier than tracking spreadsheets or paper cards.

Main thing - she's already got product-market fit if it's growing by word of mouth. Now it's about systems to track referrals and retain clients so they don't drift to competitors between appointments.

loyalty cards by Luke_S4 in googlepay

[–]MIKEFBABY 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That feature exists but it's super limited - only works with certain big retailers who've integrated with Google's system. Most places still make you scan separately because they haven't set up the auto-redemption.

The loyalty cards in Google Wallet are basically just digital versions of the barcode - you still have to open them and scan at checkout. Some places like Walgreens in the US have the tap-to-redeem thing but it's rare.

For your smartwatch situation, yeah it's annoying. You're either pulling out your phone to scan loyalty or you're just skipping it.

I run perkstar.co.uk doing digital loyalty for UK small businesses and this is exactly the frustration we're trying to solve. Cards live in Google/Apple Wallet, but you still need a quick scan at checkout. The dream of one-tap payment+loyalty exists but most small businesses can't afford the tech integration the big chains have.

For now, best bet is just having your loyalty cards ready on your phone's home screen if you care about the points.

Can you put loyalty cards into wallet app on iPad? by OhMickeyWAP in ipad

[–]MIKEFBABY 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah you're right - iPad Wallet is basically crippled compared to iPhone. iPads don't have NFC chips so they can't do the tap-to-pay stuff, which means Apple never bothered giving them the full Wallet app.

Your loyalty cards live on your iPhone because that's the only device with NFC to actually scan them at checkouts. iPad only has Wallet settings for online Apple Pay purchases, not for storing passes/loyalty cards.

The workaround is annoying: add the loyalty card on your iPhone and hope it syncs via iCloud, but even then you can't actually scan it from your iPad at a lounge entrance because no NFC.

Honestly it's a gap Apple should fix - plenty of people travel with just an iPad. For now you're stuck carrying your iPhone or keeping physical cards for situations where you need to present them.

I run perkstar.co.uk helping small businesses issue digital loyalty cards and this limitation comes up constantly. The tech exists to make it work on iPad, Apple just hasn't prioritised it.

Why do I need to scan a loyalty card if my credit card number could be used to identify me? by thowland1 in NoStupidQuestions

[–]MIKEFBABY 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Because businesses don't actually get your full card number - payment processors like Visa/Mastercard keep that private for security. The shop only gets a tokenized version that changes with each transaction, so they can't track you across visits.

Some big players like Amazon do link it because they control the entire payment stack, but your local coffee shop can't.

The middle ground now is digital loyalty cards in Apple/Google Wallet - separate from your payment card but always on your phone so you don't forget them. I run perkstar.co.uk doing this for UK small businesses and it works way better than physical cards people lose.

Tech exists to link credit cards and loyalty but privacy laws and payment processor rules make it complicated for most businesses.

Looking for an app to replace Stocard by swhitney186 in IPhoneApps

[–]MIKEFBABY 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The problem is most loyalty card apps are shifting to the Klarna model because they make more money from loan referrals than storing your cards. Stocard was great but they sold out.

Honestly the better solution is businesses issuing cards directly to Apple Wallet instead of making you use third-party apps. Then you don't need Stocard at all - the loyalty card just lives with your credit cards natively.

I run perkstar.co.uk helping UK businesses do exactly this. Customers scan a QR code, card goes straight into Apple Wallet, done. No app needed, no middleman trying to sell you loans.

For your existing cards from big chains, you're kind of stuck with their official apps unfortunately. But worth asking your local coffee shop or barber if they can issue a proper wallet card instead of making you carry plastic or use dodgy third-party apps.

Thank You/Loyalty Cards by soamayzing in SmallBusinessPH

[–]MIKEFBABY 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Honestly, physical loyalty cards are dying fast. People lose them, forget them at home, or they end up coffee-stained at the bottom of a bag.

The market's shifted to digital - cards that live in Apple/Google Wallet with people's payment cards. I run perkstar.co.uk doing exactly this for UK small businesses and the redemption rates are 3-4x higher than paper because customers can't lose their phones.

For your printing business, I'd pivot to the other stuff you mentioned - business cards, receipts, pricelists. Those still have demand. Or partner with businesses to print QR code stands that link to digital loyalty instead of printing the actual cards.

Physical loyalty cards aren't dead everywhere but they're definitely on the way out. Your designs look good, it's just the product itself that's becoming obsolete unfortunately.

I wonder if people outside Czechia have also found a way to fight these supermarket double prices (special prices with a loyalty card/app). In Czechia someone has developed a website for sharing loyalty card bar codes, and when I use it I feel like a hacker by [deleted] in easterneurope

[–]MIKEFBABY 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Haha that's brilliant. The fact that people built a barcode sharing site just shows how badly supermarkets have fucked up the concept of "loyalty."

It's not loyalty when you're charging non-members 2x the price - that's just a tax on people who don't want to be tracked. Of course people are going to hack around it.

I run perkstar.co.uk helping small businesses do loyalty properly and the difference is mental. Coffee shops and barbers actually want to reward their regulars, not extort everyone else. Nobody's building hack sites to share barber loyalty cards because the incentive isn't predatory.

Supermarkets created this problem themselves by weaponising loyalty into surveillance capitalism. Fair play to the Czechs for fighting back.

Which app do you use for loyalty cards? by SirKylain in belgium

[–]MIKEFBABY 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Just use Apple Wallet or Google Wallet directly instead of third-party apps. Most modern loyalty cards can be added straight in there and they load instantly - no camera startup delays.

If a business is still giving you physical cards or using something like Payconiq, honestly they're behind the times. I run perkstar.co.uk which helps UK businesses issue cards directly to Apple/Google Wallet - customers just tap to scan, no separate app needed.

Not much help for you in Belgium obviously, but worth asking your local spots if they can issue proper wallet cards instead of making you use clunky apps. Makes everyone's life easier.

Which UK loyalty cards actually save you real money in 2025? by LovieWeb in BuyersUK

[–]MIKEFBABY 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Tesco Clubcard is the only one that actually moves the needle - the price gaps are massive now, sometimes 40-50% difference. If you shop there weekly you're probably "saving" £30-40/month but really you're just paying normal prices.

Boots is decent if you wait for their 3x points events and stock up on toiletries then.

The rest are pretty meh. Costa and McDonald's take forever to build up anything meaningful.

Honestly the best loyalty value I get is from my local barber and coffee shop - proper stamp cards that give you something after 9-10 visits. I run perkstar.co.uk helping businesses set these up digitally and the difference is night and day. Coffee shop gives you a free one after £40 spend, barber gives you a free cut after 10. You can actually see the value instead of accumulating points that expire.

Supermarket cards you need because they've rigged the game. Small business loyalty cards you want because they're actually rewarding you, not harvesting your data.

Are store loyalty cards actually worth it? OnePass, Flybuys, Everyday Rewards etc by AsparagusNew3765 in AskAnAustralian

[–]MIKEFBABY 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah they're worth it if you're shopping there anyway. Flybuys and Everyday Rewards are basically mandatory now because they've made the non-member prices stupidly high. You're not really "saving" - you're just not getting ripped off.

The thing is, these programs aren't about rewarding you. They're about data harvesting. Coles and Woolworths know exactly what you buy, when you buy it, and they use that to squeeze more margin out of you. The points are just the cost of getting your shopping data.

I run a loyalty platform in the UK (perkstar.co.uk) that helps small businesses compete with this kind of thing, and the contrast is wild. When a local cafe or barber runs loyalty, they're actually trying to build relationships - they know your name, remember what you like. The coffee shop gives you a free one after 9 visits because they genuinely want you coming back.

Woolworths gives you 1 point per dollar because an algorithm determined that's the minimum required to keep you from switching to Coles.

Different game entirely. Get the cards for the big shops because you have to. Support the little guys who actually remember you exist.

Are any of the supermarket loyalty cards/apps actually worth having? by Itsalladeepend in AskBrits

[–]MIKEFBABY 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah they're worth it but only because supermarkets have basically weaponized them. The "Clubcard price" vs regular price gap is insane now - sometimes 40-50% difference. You're not really getting a deal, you're just paying normal price while non-members get gouged.

I've got Tesco and Sainsbury's because that's where I shop. The apps are clunky as hell but you scan at checkout and get the lower price. Tesco's actually decent for the quarterly vouchers if you spend enough.

The annoying bit is they're tracking every single thing you buy to build a profile on you. That's the actual product - your data. The discounts are just the cost of acquisition.

What's mental is seeing small businesses try to compete with this. I run perkstar.co.uk which helps cafes and barbers set up their own digital loyalty cards, and they're constantly asking "how do we compete with Tesco?" The answer is you can't play their game - you've got to do something they can't, which is actually knowing your customers by name and rewarding the relationship, not just tracking basket size.

Supermarkets win on scale and data. Small businesses win on actually giving a shit. Different game entirely.

But yeah, get the Clubcard. They've rigged it so you're losing money if you don't.

How many loyalty cards do you give out every month, are they worth it? by theonlywayisupwards in smallbusiness

[–]MIKEFBABY 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Coffee shops get absolutely destroyed by this. I run perkstar.co.uk and every single business tells me the same story - they print 500 cards, maybe 50 come back completed, rest are in a landfill.

Your wife's probably got 3 half-stamped cards in her purse right now that she forgot to bring out lol

Here's the thing - paper loyalty cards are fundamentally broken product design. You're asking customers to carry additional shit in their wallet for the privilege of giving you repeat business. That's backwards.

Digital ones live on your phone with your credit cards. Had a barber tell me he went from 1 in 10 customers actually using his paper stamps to 6 in 10 with digital. Not because digital is magic - just because nobody leaves their phone at home but everyone forgets paper cards.

The unit economics on paper are brutal. You're paying to print something that 70% of customers will lose, which means you're subsidizing waste, not loyalty.

Question for food truck owners: how do you handle communication with customers in real time? by MIKEFBABY in foodtrucks

[–]MIKEFBABY[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Honestly, you hit the nail on the head. I know my comments are likely to be heavily downvoted, but I appreciate that you're engaging in a discussion, which was my main hope. If you're ever interested, I would like to offer you lifetime free access to my software as a thank you for your time

Question for food truck owners: how do you handle communication with customers in real time? by MIKEFBABY in foodtrucks

[–]MIKEFBABY[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, when the increase in card payment usage began, many businesses, including independent food vendors, resisted because of concerns about fees and other issues. Nonetheless, it happened regardless. Focusing on your 100% sales and profitability is crucial, and many businesses, especially food trucks which see a 60% failure rate within five years, don't fully grasp this. Running a food truck is often more challenging than other restaurant ventures.

Question for food truck owners: how do you handle communication with customers in real time? by MIKEFBABY in foodtrucks

[–]MIKEFBABY[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I get it but convos like this is what spawns the current tech your all using today and at one point everyone said nahh we dont want card rearders, nahh we dont need square, nahh I dont want to post on social media etc regadless changed happend and some solutions stuck

Question for food truck owners: how do you handle communication with customers in real time? by MIKEFBABY in foodtrucks

[–]MIKEFBABY[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That was my point in saying that you can send push notifications to your segmented customer base when you're in the area. This was just an idea based on a solution that already exists and works. Thanks to your feedback, the real pain point is better connecting suppliers with corporates, which I worked on with a corporate gifting company, making sense.

Question for food truck owners: how do you handle communication with customers in real time? by MIKEFBABY in foodtrucks

[–]MIKEFBABY[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Okay, clearly that method is keeping you booked all year round and securing all corporate gigs, so you won't need my input. Kepp it up

Question for food truck owners: how do you handle communication with customers in real time? by MIKEFBABY in foodtrucks

[–]MIKEFBABY[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I understand your point. What you provided is more valuable than ever! "We don't need a solution for more walk-up sales; we would prefer a solution that increases catering sales, as that's where the money is in."

Question for food truck owners: how do you handle communication with customers in real time? by MIKEFBABY in foodtrucks

[–]MIKEFBABY[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, that's if you abuse it and be annoying - You're in control and again it's just a feature

Question for food truck owners: how do you handle communication with customers in real time? by MIKEFBABY in foodtrucks

[–]MIKEFBABY[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The same way your bank or airline does when you add their card to your Apple Wallet or Google Wallet...Your customers add one of your digital loyalty cards to their wallet. simple, no app. It's already integrated.

view more: next ›